The Doctor
by Micah Debrink
Summary: Braviary tries to play doctor...but then it goes all wrong. Or does it?


(Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or the Pokémon characters.)

The Doctor

Some days he'd stare at the pictures all day long. It was so hard to resist…he was told not to; he knew it was so sinful. It brought back the past; a past that was so tempting, where's a time machine when you need it? His former trainer lay on the bed, barely mobile; the car accident had hit him hard. In theory he could move around with the electric wheelchair he had, but there was no point. He'd released his Pokémon, realizing it was the end—but Braviary returned. The bird Pokémon continued staring at those goddamn pictures that his trainer now spit on; but he never took them down. They say he lost most of his memory from the car accident. Doctors don't know a thing; Braviary's trainer was always such a great liar.

Jerry, his trainer, was sleeping when he snuck into the house, but…he must have woken now.

"Hmm…what are you doing here, Raptor?" That was Braviary's nickname. "I thought I told you to go back to the wild."

To tell you the truth, after being with a trainer for so long he realized how much he took for granted that he had a stable source of food and plenty of nutrition and all. That was one reason he didn't want to go back to Route 1, where he was captured. The other…well let's say he thought of Jerry as unsympathetic now.

Everyone focuses on the attachment the trainer feels to their Pokémon. Those people think it's the Pokémon that needs to adapt to the new trainer; in a sense that's true, Jerry's a new trainer in a way, having completely transformed after the accident. Flip the characters for a moment. What if Jerry the Pokémon refuses to accept you? How does that make a forlorn bird Pokémon feel? How angry and resentful does that make a pride-filled, loyal, Braviary when his loyalty is betrayed?

He needed to give Jerry his strength back. He had to find a way. _I see some Potion,_ he thought. _And an Oran Berry_. For a bird Pokémon, he was anything but a birdbrain. He picked the zipper-lock on Jerry's old trainer bag (he was courageous in battle, but insecure as hell otherwise) and found some more old berries and potions, some exotic species he'd never seen before. Never mind. It'll work. _Arceus knows what I want. He's got a plan in line for me._

He put them into the blender after spending a few minutes figuring out how to plug it in with his beak, pureeing it into a warm juice. Back in the bedroom, Jerry was still lying down, awake, but I guess he didn't have enough strength to bother to chase him out. He gently smiled at the Braviary's token of kindness, and slowly drank up.

After that, it was tough to say what happened. He left the room to let him rest that afternoon. A few minutes, he saw him fast asleep. And again a few minutes later. And again a few minutes later. How many times did he check on him? Maybe Pokémon assume traits of their trainers.

Jerry had plenty of berries in his bag, so Braviary had saved some of the berries for dinner later that evening. Around six o'clock, he went back into the room with some more Berry juice, and said "Dinner's ready" (in his own speak, of course).

No response.

"Dinner's ready!"

No response.

"Dinner's ready!"

No response. Maybe he didn't like dinner.

The bird Pokémon stepped closer towards him. When he reached to touch him, he suddenly shuddered at contact; partially from the utter fear, and partially from the coldness of Jerry's body. He pushed him around. No response. He fired Whirlwind at him. No response. _I guess…_

The Braviary airlifted his trainer to the nearest hospital. He heard a lively chatter among the physicians and medical specialists right outside Jerry's room. _What were they arguing about?_

"Do you think?"

"It's not our jobs as doctors. We should call the police force before we jump to conclusions. He's just suffered a car accident."

"Well, I think the evidence is pretty clear."

"I agree, but there's at least some possibility that it wasn't murder!"

That made Braviary perk up. _What…what the humanity of a person who would do such a thing. Anyone…that would hurt my trainer. Wait…he was fine this afternoon…and I made the berry juice…_and then he realized that "person" was him. He quickly snuck out of the hospital for some alone time, head held down in partial embarrassment and shame.

The twice-forlorn Pokémon: once after the accident, once after Jerry's death—later learned his trainer died from an overdose of highly poisonous Berries, which confirmed his hypothesis. _He killed his own trainer. Arceus, he killed his own damn trainer!_ He asked Him to be at his side. _Maybe Arceus had it planned out all along._ _Everything has to be balanced._ In Braviary's eyes, he was betrayed by his irresponsible trainer, not letting his Pokémon stay with him, or at least offer to. Jerry hadn't considered the feelings of his loved and dear Pokémon, and this was a way for him to subconsciously get revenge for that. But who has won? Who has gotten revenge? _Jerry's laughing his ass off at me now he's dead and doesn't have to worry about a thing. And I'll never have my trainer again._ _But I can,_ he thought. He's not a birdbrain, as I've said.

He approached a young (rather attractive) Serperior sitting outside the hospital—she looked like a doctor of some sort—and asked her the question.

"Excuse me, miss…what happens after you die?"

"Well, they all go to a land above…where there are unlimited riches…and all pain you suffer in life…you are freed from."

He couldn't help but ask. "How do you know all this?"

"I've been there before."

That was all the information he needed. He reached into Jerry's old trainer bag, which he had brought with him to the hospital. He had one last toxic Berry. Lacking teeth, he gulped it down in fell swoop.

He saw Him. He couldn't see, touch, taste, smell or hear, but he could "sense" or "feel" His presence.

"Arceus."

"Welcome, humble Braviary."

"Where am I?"

"That is a mystery you will solve later. Now, tell me how you came to be here."

"I met a kind Serperior…who told me to expect good fortune after death…so I decided to swallow a toxic Berry." He hesitated. Suicide was condemned in society.

"I see…do not worry about that. Welcome."

And then he saw him. He could see, touch taste, smell, or hear him. That familiar face, just not swathed in bandages anymore.

"Jerry!"

"Raptor! I've…I've missed you. Sorry I kicked you out. I…never thought we'd be together again. But…tell me, how did you get here?"

"Well, I met this Serperior…"

"Hold on…" Jerry said. "I can understand you! We all speak the same language here...!"

Says a lot about how Arceus perceives all creatures, great and small.

Raptor continued. "Well, I met this Serperior doctor, who told me that you are freed from all pains after you died. I figured it was the best thing to do to eat the toxic Berries in your backpack."

"You ate the berries? I remember I was gonna send them to the Professor for research…that was before the car accident. But wait a sec, you said you met a Serperior doctor—I thought only humans can serve as doctors."

And then he figured it out; he wasn't a birdbrain, after all.

(This is not intended to a "religious" fic of any sort; interpret it however you like. Comment on your thoughts, and if you have ideas for a new story in the series, I'm all ears!)


End file.
